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NEW YORK - Two people have been accused of conspiracy to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

A federal criminal complaint in New York says the two also are charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. It says the ambassador was in the United States when the death plot was supposed to occur.

The suspects are identified as Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri. According to a criminal complaint, Arbabsiar is a naturalized U.S. citizen who holds both a U.S. and an Iranian passport.

Abrabsiar was denied bail during a hearing today in Manhatten. Authorities say he confessed to his role in the $1.5 million plot to kill the ambassador at a restaurant.

President Barack Obama's administration has accused agents of the Iranian government of being involved in the plot. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the thwarted plot will further isolate Tehran.

Iran is rejecting the claims that it was involved. IRNA, the official Iranian news agency, calls the accusations by the U.S. Justice Department as "America's new propaganda scenario" against Iran, without elaborating.